Cushioned white water shower cleaner for paper-making machines



April l, 1958 A. E. CUSHIONED WHI BRoUGH'roN 2,829,005

TE WATER SHOWER CLEANER FOR PAPER-'MAKING MACHINES Filed March l, 1954 CUSHIONED WHITE WA'EER SHGWER CLEANER FOR PAPER-MAKING MACHINES Arthur E. Broughton, Glens Falls, N. Y

Application March 1, 1954, Serial No. 413,197

9 Claims. (Cl. 299-59) This invention relates to a cleaner for white water showers to prevent clogging of the nozzles thereof.

This application is a continuation in part of my presently co-pending application entitled Spraying Device, iled December 26, 1950, Serial No. 202,789, now abandoned.

As was pointed out in said co-pending application, it has always been a problem to prevent the nozzles in white water showers from becoming clogged with the paper pulp contained in the water. lt is, therefore, necessary to provide some means for constantly cleaning these nozzles to prevent this clogging. I have found that a scraper action produces the best cleaning results and have provided scraping elements on a reciprocating, double-headed piston for removing all accumulations from theinside portions of the nozzles and the shower tubes in Which said nozzles are mounted. The reciprocation of the piston produces considerable impact at the end of each stroke and this impact causes damage not only to the pistony and parts thereof but also to the shower pipe and parts connected therewith.

It is an object of my present invention to provide` a nozzle and shower pipe cleaner for white water showers to controllably maintain such showers in clean and eflicient operative condition.

It is another object to provide a shower pipe and nozzle cleaner for white water showers which will remove the accumulation of paper pulp from the inside of a shower pipe and the inside portion of the nozzles formed therein and which will deliver this accumulation out of said shower pipe to the drain and thus prevent the same from causing further clogging of the sprayy nozzles.

It is still a further object to provide a high speed reciprocating cleaning piston mounted within a nozzle equipped shower pipe for rapidly moving from one end of the pipe to the other to efficiently clean the same and permit the same, to be rapidlyreciprocated back and forth to provide thorough cleaning of said pipe and nozzles.

It is still another object to provide a rapidly reciproca.- ble piston mounted in a nozzle equipped shower pipe and provided with cushioning means for preventing impact of the piston at the ends of the reciprocating stroke.

More specifically it is an object to providel a piston type cleaner for shower pipes adapted to be carried from one end of the pipe to the other by the water pressure therein with means for reversing the direction of flow of thewater through said shower pipe with both ends; connectablewith an outlet to drain to permit not only rapid reciprocation of the piston but also permit discharge of thek collected accumulations through the drain outlet to entirely remove the same from the shower pipe with said piston being provided with a forwardly extendingv sleeve element for progressively closing off the opening to drain from the shower pipe and thereby hydraulically cushion said piston at the end of each stroke thereof.

These and other objects and advantages of. this invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection the accompanying drawings States Patent O ICC wherein like reference characters refer to the same or similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of my new white water shower cleaningapparatus; v

Fig.. 2 isa right end elevational View thereof showing the supply pipe intransverse section; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal sectional view showing the cleaning piston in detail.

As illustrated in the accompanying drawings, I provide a shower pipe 5 equipped with spray nozzles preferably of the type disclosed and claimed in my allowed application S. N. 228,930, lled Mayv 29, 1951, and entitled Spray Nozzle, now Patent. 2,665,946. Such nozzles are shown in Fig. l and are designated by the numeral 6 and provide aA generally Hush and smooth interior surface within the shower pipe to minimize clogging and to per- Initl any clogging; accumulations to be easily andl eflicientlyremovedfby my cleaning device.

A, pair; of.l connector Ts 7 and 8 are respectively connected, at the ends of the shower pipe 5 and the ends of said shower piperespectively extend into each of said Ts a substantial distance tofprovide a smoothly contoured passage Within said shower pipe from one end thereof to the other, A pair of plugs 9 respectively close the ends of theTs 7 and 8 opposite the respective connections with the, ends, of the shower pipe S. A flow conduit ltvis connected in depending relation to T 7 `and communicates with the end'portion of the shower pipe 5 through an aperturef 511 provided therein. Thisv aperture, 5a is required Since, the end portion of the, shower pipe 5 overlaps the depending ow' opening 7a of the T '7j A similar openi'ng-v 5b' is formedu through, the overlapped portion of the other end ofshower pipe. 5 to permit direct communication betweenthe end, of saidshower tube and the depending showeropennga formed in T 8.

A two position four way valve is, in the form shown, designated as. an entirety by the numeral 11 and isconnected with the flow opening of T 8 and has a supply openinglla conncctedwithtbe sup-Ply pipe 1.2 anda drain openingE 11b connected with a drain conduit 13. A pair offl'ow openings 11ek and 11d are,V provided and in the form shown the opening 11C is connected with. opening Sa of T 8 and opening 11d is connected with a branch conduit 14 by means of an elbow 15 and the two conduits 10 and 14' are interconnected by an1 elbow 16. The valve 11 has a rotatably mounted valve body 11e journaled within the central'V communication chamber thereof and Said Valve body 1161's. actuated by control handle 17 fixed tothe outer porti'QLl Of'vaiye ll.. A pin 17a fixed to valve handle 17 limits the shifting" movement of said valve handle by travelingbetweena pair of stop elements 18a and as best shown in Fig, 2 so that the direction of flow from supply con-duit 112 through the continuous system may be reversed by merely shifting the valve body 11e from. the full; line position s hown in Fig. 1 to the dotted line position shown therein. The full line position of the valve body 11e obviously causes the white water from supply conduit 12 to ilow through branch conduit 14 and opening 5a adjacent connector T 7 and from there into shower pipe 5 and when the valve body isshifted. intoY the dotted position the white water will be delivered to the shower pipe 5 through opening 5b therein adjacent con.- nector 'I'. 8.

A double ended floating piston Z0 having Piston heads 21 and 22 is slidably mounted within shower pipe 5 and is. free to be reciprocated Within` said shower pipe by the flow of water therethrough, Each of the piston heads 21 and 2v2' has a scraper seal mounted peripherally therearound for sealed scraping engagement with the insidev surface @faire 5... In the present form of. my invention as illustrated in the drawings, v I provide a resilientY annu, l'ar ringj23 varound ythe outer periphery of the piston rings work very well in this capacity and must, of course, be of a composition which is not materially effected by the corrosive solutions used in the paper making processes. A rod 20a securely interconnects the heads 21 and 22 and has reduced end portions extending a substantial distance outwardly beyond each of said heads to respectively form stop elements 24 and 25. These stop elements 24 and 25 respectively abut the inside of closure plugs 9 to limit the movement of piston 20 at the end of each stroke thereof. A pair of cushioning sleeves 26 and 27 are respectively fixed to the piston heads 21 and 22 and extend longitudinally outwardly therefrom around a portion of` the respective diminished extension stop elements 24 and 25. In the form shown spaced portions of the rod 20a are threaded and anchoring nuts 28 positively hold the heads 21 and 22 and sleeves 26 and 27 respectively inxed position thereon.

The following is a description of the operation of my white water shower cleaner with the valve in the full line position shown in Fig. 1 the white water will be supplied to the nozzles 6 through the end of shower pipe 5 adjacent connector T 7 and the piston 20 will be disposed at the end of said shower pipe adjacent connector T 8. When it appears that one or more of the nozzles 6 is becoming clogged with an accumulation of minute particles of paper pulp carried by the white water the operator merely shifts the valve into dotted position shown in Fig. l which applied the inlet pressure from supply conduit 12 to piston head 22 and reciprocates the piston` down to the other end of the shower pipe 5 into the dotted position of said piston shown in Fig. 1. The resilient annular sealing rings 23 substantially prevent any of the water from passing said heads and readily conform to any irregularities which might be present on the inside of the shower pipe 5. Said sealing rings are, of course, slightly compressed against the inside wall of said pipe so as to Ytightly engage any enlargement in the pipe and are constructed to permit further compression to accommodate diminished irregularities in said pipe 5. These sealing rings positively scrape all accumulations from the inside surface of the pipe 5 and the inlet portions of the nozzle 6 and carry said accumulations to the other end of the pipe to deliver the same by means of the flowing water to the drain 13 to absolutely remove all of said collected accumulation from the shower pipe and prevent further clogging of said nozzles thereby. The cushioning sleeve 26 during the travel of the piston 20 toward the connector T 7 may pick up the larger accumulations on the outer free end thereof and carry the same to the ow conduit 10, thus reducing the accumulation of pulp on the sealing ring scraper 23 as the same is moved through the shower pipe. Also, as the sleeve 26 reaches the ow opening 5a in the shower pipe 5 which is then functioning as a discharge opening, said opening will be progressively restricted and ultimately substantially closed by said sleeve to reduce the ow of liquid through said opening and hydraulically restrict the speed at which the piston 20 will be moved as it approaches the end of its stroke to thus cushion said stroke and prevent the damaging impact caused thereby. Obviously, the operation at the other end of the tube is identical with that described and in view of the high speed movement of the piston during the main portion of its stroke in each direction the same may be reciprocated back and forth by shifting of valve 11 to produce a number of cleaning strokes within the pipe to thoroughly clean the same in a relatively short time so that thoroughcleaning may be obtained relatively quickly, without impact, to effectively maintain a white water shower in efficient operative condition.

It should benoted that the stop elements or rods 24 and 2S positively limit the shifting movement of the piston assembly to prevent the surface of pressure application of each head 21 and 22 from traveling beyond the ow openings 5a and 5b through the end portions of the side wall of the shower tube 5 and the hollow cushioning sleeves 26 and 27 permit application of water pressure to the surface of the piston disposed thercbehind and, in the form shown, the surface of pressure application of cach piston head is maintained between the low openings 5a and 5b of the shower tube to permit the application of pressure to effectively shift said piston assembly from one end of the tube to the other.

lt should also be noted that the yieldable Q-ring sealing elements surrounding the periphery of each of the piston heads 21 and 22 to form a yieldable resilient wiping surface thoroughly cleans the inside of the tube 5. This yieldable element also prevents wear on the inside of the tube and produces a better cleaning action by resiliently protruding slightly into cach of the nozzle openings to thoroughly wipe any accumulations therefrom.

It will be seen that I have provided a relatively simple, yet highly efficient, white water shower cleaning apparatus which will effectively deliver all of the collected accumulations to the drain conduit and permit the ow of liquid to carry the same out of the shower pipe and which is cushioned at the end of each stroke to prevent the damaging impacts from injuring the equipment.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts without departing from the scope of this invention which, generally stated, consists in the matter shown and described herein and set forth in the appended claims.

What lI claim is:

1.A device in combination with White water shower tubes in paper-making machines for cleaning the saine comprising an elongated hollow shower tube having a `plurality of discharge nozzles formed through the side wall thereof, a piston shiftably mounted in close-fitting relation within said tube and responsive for said shifting movement to controllable application of water pressure to opposite sides thereof, a branch conduit interconnecting Ithe end portions of said tube, 'valve means in said conduit for controllably varying the direction of the application of water pressure to the sides of said piston to cause said piston to shift from one end of the tube to the other, and a compressed yieldable resilient sealing and nozzle-cleaning element surrounding said Piston and interposed between the inside wall of the shower tube and the portion of the piston surrounded thereby to obviate the necessity of maintaining close-fitting tolerances between the piston and the inside wall of the tube and substantially eliminate wear on the inside of the tube.

`1.7.. The structure set forth in claim l, and said sealing and nozzle-cleaning element being made from a rubberlike composition.

3. A device in combination with white water 4shower tubes in paper-making machines for cleaning the same comprising an elongated hollow shower tube having a plurality of discharge nozzles formed through the side wall thereof, a piston shiftably mounted in elose-tting relation within said tube and responsive for said shifting movement to controllable application of water pressure to opposite sides thereof, a branch conduit interconnecting the end portions of said tube, valve means in said conduit for controllably varying the direction of the appli-cation of water pressure to the sides of said piston to cause said piston to shift from one end of the tube to the other, and flow-restricting cushioning means respectively mounted on opposite sides of said piston and extending therefrom toward the adjacent end of said tube and constructed to restrict the rate at which said piston can be moved at the end of each stroke thereof.

4. The structure set forth in claim 3, and said tube having flow openings formed in the inner 4portions of the side walls thereof and said cushioning means consisting in a pair of rigid elements respectively fixed to oppoasaaoo site sides of said piston and conforming to the inside size and shape of said shower tube to progressively close 4off the outlet openings from said shower tube to restrict the ow of liquid therethrough as the piston reaches the ends of its cleaning strokes.

5. The structure set forth in claim 4, and said cushioning elements consisting in hollow 'tubular members mounted within said shower tube with the outer surface thereof in closely spaced relation to the inner surface of said shower tube to permit the surface of pressure `appli-cation of said piston to be maintained between the ow openings in said shower tube.

6. A device in combination with white water shower tubes in paper-making machines for cleaning the same comprising an elongated hollow shower tube "having a plurality of discharge nozzles formed therein, said nozzles beingconstructed to extend only outwardly from the inside wall Surface of said tube to provide `a substantially unobstructed inside wall surface, a cleaning piston having the periphery thereof closely tting within said tube and responsive for shifting movement within said tube to the application of liquid pressure to the respective sides thereof, said tube having a pair of flow openings respectively formed in the end portions thereof, `a four-way control valve adapted to be connected at one side to a source of liquid supply to another side to a drain outlet, conduit means respectively connecting said flow openings in said tube with the other two openings of said fourway control valve, and stop means interposed between opposite sides of said piston and the respective ends of said tube to limit the shifting movement of said piston at the ends of the strokes thereof and prevent said piston from traveling beyond said ow openings in said tube.

7. vThe structure vset forth in claim 6, and cushioning means for limiting the rate of shifting movement of said piston at the respective ends of the strokes thereof.

I8. A spraying device, adapted for use as a lwhite water shower on 'a paper making machine, comprising a tube adapted to be positioned transversely of said machine and having a plurality of spaced discharge orices therein; pipes connecting the ends of said tube and forming therewith a closed pipe circuit; a piston closely fitted in said tube to slide therein under the action of water pressure on either end thereof; a four-Way valve in said pipe circuit having a water inlet, a water outlet, and manually operable means therein for optionally providingv communication between said inlet and one end of said tube, and said outlet with the other end of .said tube, or, communication between said inlet and said otherend of .said tube, and said outlet and said one end of said tube; whereby, when any of said orices become obstructed by dirt or other matter in the water owing into said tube from one end thereof, the flow of water into said tube may be reversed; whereby said piston, upon such reversal, will be driven to the other end of said tube and scrape the obstructions from said orifices as it passes thereby carrying said obstructions and dirt in said tube before it to discharge them through the outlet of said valve.

9. A spraying device adapted for `use as a white water shower on a paper making machine, comprising a shower tube having a plurality of spaced discharged orifices to .slide therein in response to the water pressure supplied to either end of said tube, means'dening communication openings at the respective end portions of said tube, conduit means connected with said openings, valve means connected with said conduit means and including :an inlet for supplying water to said conduit means 'and an outlet for discharging water from said tube, said valve means including mechanism for reversing the flow of water through said tube to move the piston from one end thereof to the other to clean the orices in the tube and carry any solid foreign material removed from said orifices out of said tube through said outlet, and means for stopping the movement of said piston within said A tube at a position disposed between the openings in the yend portions thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 502,742 McGowen Aug. 8, 1893Y 2,062,181 Klaus Nov. 24, 1936 2,177,429 Foster Oct. 24, 1,939 2,613,992 Bahnson Oct. 14, 1952 2,619,378 Watkins et al. Nov. 25, 1952 2,634,164 Drake Apr. 7, 1953 2,665,946 Broughton Jan. 12, 1954 

